The Expat Diaries: Misfortune Cookie (Single in the City Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

right, perfect, thanks. Now all I need is the perfect interview.’
    ‘Hang in there, Han, the right company will snap you up,’ she says. ‘And I’ll be there soon to celebrate your new job. That’s why I called. HR told me yesterday that they’re just waiting to get the paperwork back. I’ve booked my leaving drinks for Friday. The power of positive thinking, eh? Also, if it’s delayed I can have another party next week. It shouldn’t take much longer.’
    ‘Okay. Be sure you pack all your summer clothes. It’s hot already.’
    ‘But CNN says–’
    ‘I know, but it’s deceptively hot. It’s the humidity. And don’t forget about the rainy season in summer.’
    ‘Eww, but...’
    ‘Tell me about it. My hair. I’ll look like I’ve been electrocuted.’ This kind of thing never happens to Stacy. For one thing, she’s immune to the environmental factors that make the rest of us frizz up or break out. For another, good things happen to her. ‘Maybe you can come anyway and then start when you get the paperwork through?’
    ‘I think Immigration takes a dim view of that. Besides, I want to spend as much time with Tyler as I can before I go. He’s turning out to be quite satisfying in bed. He takes foreplay to a new level. I don’t know how he doesn’t cramp up. We called in sick to work the other day. And it’s not like I’ll see him once I move.’
    ‘I totally understand.’ Tyler is Stacy’s latest conquest. Like hurricanes, there’s usually a string of them in season. That’s how I know she doesn’t expect us to talk about this one. She’d like to talk about Sam, but I won’t let her.
    Stacy’s got a real grudge against him for “moving me” all the way to Hong Kong. Even though she knows I couldn’t have stayed in London anyway, thanks to my poisonous boss. Of course it sounded crazy when Sam first suggested it. But my alternative was to move back home, or to another city where I didn’t know anyone. At least Sam is here.
    Or he will be here, as soon as he finishes his assignment in Vietnam.
    Meanwhile, I proved that I could make a life for myself in London, and I can do it again in Hong Kong.
    ‘So you think it’ll just be a week or two then till you get here?’ I ask, trying to veer towards a topic that doesn’t call my judgment into question.
    ‘Probably,’ she says, playing along. ‘Most of my shoes are packed, so I’m ready to go as soon as I get the okay. Any luck on an apartment?’
    It’s a bit of pressure being our designated housing scout, but I know Stacy’s tastes as well as my own. Plus, I’d never pass up the chance to spend other people’s money. Unlike me, Stacy gets to move here on an expat package. ‘Not yet but I’ve got one to see before lunch. I have a good feeling about it. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know.’
    Stacy shouldn’t be so confident in my apartment-hunting skills. Jack and the Beanstalk drove a better bargain than I generally do.
    The estate agent that I meet at the entrance to the tall concrete building senses this immediately. She’s a perfectly coiffed, Chinese clone of the awright-mate-I’m-yer-friend hucksters filling these positions in the rest of the world. I distrust her intensely.
    ‘Very nice apartment,’ she gushes. ‘Built in 2004. Big. Good value.’ She’s gesturing around the living room, carefully restraining her arm gestures to keep from touching two walls at once and undermining her claim.
    The young woman she’s brought with her is nodding through an enormous grin. She looks like an accessory to the con. How can she be so enthusiastic when these apartments all look the same? There may be slight variations in the decor of the lobbies and elevators, but they’re all modern high-rises. How different from central London’s accommodation, where we’re grateful for a kitchen, and a housemate who doesn’t steal. I miss London’s architecture. Its charm lies in the hodgepodge of eras in the same road, from